Innovation on Display: highlights from the LACA Main Event 2025

The LACA Main Event returned to Birmingham on the 8th and 9th of July, and the event did not disappoint. Over the two days, we met with many school and trust leaders, caterers, and local authorities to discuss how digital innovation can drive meaningful change in school meal services. From advanced ordering to compliance, our latest solutions sparked many exciting conversations. 

School caterers with student in school dining hall

LACA Main Event: levelling up school food

This year’s show carried a powerful and timely theme: “Levelling Up School Food.” With the sector facing growing disparities in funding and increasing pressure to ensure all children have access to nutritious meals, the event focused on equity, resilience, and innovation in school catering. 

Our technology is designed to help schools serve more pupils efficiently and fairly—whether that means reducing queues so every child has time to eat, enabling pre-ordering to cut food waste, or offering transparent meal data that helps students make healthier choices.

By empowering schools with the solutions they need, we’re helping create a future where every child can access a nutritious meal to ensure they are fuelled to learn during lesson time.

A future-focused show

With the LACA Main Event 2025 themed on ‘levelling up,’ we were proud to showcase innovative meal ordering and payment solutions that enhance students’ daily experience. In particular, the spotlight was on Fusion Cashless, the fast, flexible cashless catering solution, and our familiar and intuitive Self-Serve Kiosk.

The Self-Serve Kiosk became a focal point for school leaders, caterers, and council representatives eager to explore how this familiar and user-friendly technology could transform their school dining environments. Designed to simplify students’ meal purchasing experience and ease staff pressure during lunch, the kiosk offers an intuitive, pupil-friendly interface, real-time menu visibility, and full integration with the Fusion Cashless system. It’s a powerful step forward in school catering technology: reducing queues, increasing meal uptake, and giving pupils greater independence during mealtimes.

"There was a real buzz around the Self-Serve Kiosk this year, especially as we could talk about the success we had with the 1st site going live the week prior to attending LACA. Being there for the launch day of the Self-Serve Kiosks at this school and seeing the system working so effectively helped people visualise what it could do for them and it sparked some great conversations about what's next for cashless catering."

Showcasing EasiChecks: digital kitchen compliance

The LACA Main Event was the perfect opportunity to unveil EasiChecks, our new digital kitchen compliance solution. Designed for school catering teams, EasiChecks replaces traditional paper-based checklists with a smart, tablet-optimised platform that streamlines essential food safety and hygiene processes.

✅ Digital logging of food temperatures and hygiene checks
✅ Fast, efficient workflows that save time
✅ Instant access to inspection-ready compliance reports

The response to EasiChecks at the event was overwhelmingly positive. Attendees welcomed a solution that addresses the everyday compliance pressures school kitchens face, especially in an environment where efficiency and accountability are more important than ever.

Thank you for joining us

To everyone who stopped by the stand, thank you. It was fantastic to speak with so many passionate professionals about the future of catering in schools and discuss how CRB Cunninghams can support your journey. We look forward for the LACA Main Event in 2026 and excited to share our new innovations with you all.

Ready to transform your school catering?

From simplifying compliance to streamlining meal ordering, our technology is built to help schools deliver faster, smarter, and more inclusive dining experiences. Whether you’re looking to reduce admin, cut queues, or give pupils greater independence, we’re here to help you take the next step. Get in touch to explore how our solutions can support your school or trust.

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